Photo Series Featuring the Story of the Three Little Pigs

The timeless tale of the Three Little Pigs has been retold and adapted for over a century. Versions in print date back to as early as 1840. It is a story about the proverbial big bad wolf preying on 3 pigs. The first two are eaten by the wolf, as they build houses made of flimsy material, straw for the first pig, and sticks for the second pig. The third pig however, survives the assault because it wisely builds a house made of bricks, and cannot be blown down by the huffing and puffing wolf. The tables are turned on the wolf that unwittingly comes down the chimney, in a desperate attempt to enter the house. He instead finds a boiling cauldron waiting for him at the bottom of the chimney, and that’s the end of him. Moral of the story (or at least one of them): Always do things as well as you can.

Famous versions that have been inspired by this children’s classic is the award-winning 1933 Silly Symphony cartoon produced by Walt Disney. There is also the 1985 retelling from Faerie Tale Theater. Then there was the 1989 parody entitled The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. 1993 also saw the release of a children’s book reversing the roles entitled The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.

Fast forward to 2013 and artist Hong Yi wants to retell the story her way, which is with food. The tale after all is gastronomic in nature! Her version has the third pig escape the jaws of the big bad wolf by flying away in its house tied to balloons. Miss Yi relates to how she dealt with some food issues, grossly ignored, she thinks, by the original storyline,

“….and that’s how the third pig REALLY got away. I was going to make a scene where Third Pig traps the wolf and turns him into a big pot of stew, but I thought that was pretty sick (actually, Third Pig would be eating the wolf AND his brothers because they’re in his stomach…have you ever thought this was a crazy story!?), and I could make use of the jelly beans I bought yesterday.”

I am a freelance photographer who is no stranger to smudged lenses, long hours in front of the computer, heavy camera bags (and the back aches that ensued) and missing lens caps. If you know what I’m talking about, you probably have as much love and passion for photography as I do.